Tag Archives: Bill Clinton

Last year when Barbara Bush was asked about her son Jeb possibly running for president she said she thought the country has had enough Bushes. This was the first time I agreed with her. We have had 12 years of Bush presidencies and that is enough. Over the weekend the matriarch changed her mind, but I didn’t change mine. There has to be more than the Bushes and the Clintons qualified to occupy the Oval Office. Yes, I said it the Clintons. Hillary is the lady in waiting and I have to believe that someone will stop her ascendency. She was invincible in 2008 and she is invincible yet again, but we know how that cloak of invincibility worked for her in 2008. So she needs to be looking over her shoulder because I for one am looking for an alternative.

Over the last few days the media has taken their shots at Monica Lewinsky. We all know she is the intern that had an affair with President Clinton. Clinton has moved on from the scandal and he now resides in rarified air. His wife the woman scorned has gone on to a glorious political career that includes a stint in the Senate, Secretary of State and now a contender for the 2016 presidency. They both have thrived while Lewinsky languished on the sidelines. Now Lewinsky has the audacity to step out of oblivion and tell her own story and she gets a media beat down. This morning I was listening to the tom Joyner Morning Show and CNN/TJMS contributor Don Lemon offered his two cents and he blamed Lewinsky for not creating her own narrative. He contends the Clintons did that and that’s why they have been able to move on. Really? That’s the difference. We all know Lewinsky was 25 years old and that is chronologically a grown woman, but 25 is not what it used to be. Lemon said 25 year olds are mothers and mortgage owners…no they are not. They are recent college graduates trying to navigate life. I can remember being 25 and being impressed when I met the CEO of the company I worked for. So the thought of the most powerful man in the world at the time paying attention to an intern had to be intoxicating. No, she should not have had an affair with president, but should she have pay for her mistake the rest of her days on earth? He’s not paying for this one anymore. He is the Lazarus of politics. He has risen and she gets push back for attempting to stand up. Mrs. Clinton has moved on and she has her eye on the White House, and the media is still taking cheap shots at Lewinsky. She didn’t kill the president. She made a big mistake but isn’t she entitled to a comeback? We claim to be the country of second chances. Well if that is true why do so many people want to deny her a second chance? Share your thoughts.

Monica Lewinsky’s name is back in the news. One of Hillary Clinton’s best friend’s personal papers were property of the University of Arkansas are now fodder for some conservative outlets. This morning on The View Barbara Walters was attempting to make a point about Lewinsky, but Sherri Shepard took the opportunity to slip in a cigar joke. Lewinsky will always be a punchline and that is sad. Bill Clinton is now revered in the Democratic party. He is friends with the Bush Family, he is close to the current president and he has the Bill Clinton Global Initiative that draws the great minds of the world, but he is also a president who took advantage of an intern. He has been able to wash the stench of the affair off of him, but she has not been as lucky. What truly galls me is when women take potshots at her. She is somebody’s daughter. No she was not a minor but she was seduced by a very powerful man: The President of the United States. It’s been almost 20 years but people still giggle at the sound of her name and they salute the sound of his, and while that’s not fair, but it is life.

Hillary Clinton is a powerful woman who over the years has shown extreme grace under fire. She was her husband’s biggest supporter even when it was undeserved. She was one of the first women to run for president that had the credentials to actually hold office. She is a role model for strong women. She has been under fire since the Benghazi tragedy. The Republicans have been itching for an opportunity to let loose at the President or any of his representatives. Mitt Romney unsuccessfully tried to use the tragedy against the president. John McCain used it to successfully torpedo Susan Rice’s aspiration for Secretary of State. So today when Hillary Clinton appeared before the Senate they knew this was their time to shine. It was a time for the backbenchers to sit in the judgment seat as they took potshots at someone who has actually had to lead. No stone was too sharp and no blow too low, but when Hillary Clinton responded to one of their pointed questions by saying “what difference does it make?” I knew that would be the right wing takeaway. She meant at this point what difference does it make? She was saying we need to look at the situation and develop ways to insure that this does not happen again. She was not minimizing the incident she was trying to give it a perspective, and that was not on the agenda today. Today was about having a public flogging and they would have prefered if she had stayed silent as they hurled their verbal abuse, but if that was the expectation they have not met the unsinkable Hillary Rodham-Clinton.

Yesterday I tweeted CBS The Talk and my tweet was read on air. The question was a boader discussion of the Petraeus affair. Who fares worse in an affair the man or the woman. I referenced President Clinton. He is now an elder statesman, a sought after world renoun speaker, and Monica Lewinsky can not get a job. Is this fair? Share your thoughts.

This morning on Meet the Press the discussion was surrounding David Patraeus’ resignation. The discussion eventually centered around why powerful men succumb and jeopardize their careers. One of the round table participants was presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. She was the only woman panelist and she started rattling off a list of women who had made a powerful man stumble. I was shocked when she said “Monica Lewinsky derailed” President Clinton for a while. Clinton was the president “the most powerful man in the Western world”, and Lewinsky was an intern, and she derailed him? Clinton is revered in most circle and lewinsky can’t get a job. Who got derailed? I think Goodwin’s statement was even more stinging because she was the only woman on the panel, and she was effectively woman bashing.

The Republican party has been using Bill Clinton in their ads and last night Bill Clinton electrified the Democratic convention. Today they released this ad and they showcase what Clinton said about the president in 2008. What they don’t say is this was during the primary. Rick Santorum, Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain said some ugly things about Mitt Romney should we hold them accountable for that now.

In 2008 Bill Clinton was working very hard for his wife. he wanted her to get the Democratic nomination for president. In his efforts to win support from Sen. Ted Kennedy he said of President Obama, “a few years ago this guy would have been carrying our bags.” Now 4 years later Bill Clinton will be the keynote speaker at the 2012 convention. This story has re-surfaced in the New Yorker magazine. Does it matter?

We live in a society that has become far too casual. Case in point former President Clinton will appear in the sequel to the Hangover. The original movie was R rated because the movie was raunchy. I saw it so I know what I am talking about. Don’t get me wrong I am not riding some moral high horse here but is this the kind of movie a former president should be in? I guess the question is what should former presidents be doing? Building homes for the homeless is a good thing, maybe writing books, giving speeches is a profit center, but appearing in the Hangover…what would George Washington say? Tell me what you think.